Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Here are a couple more of the paintings I did while we were in Canyon de Chelly. A friend gently reminded me that I didn't really elaborate on how it was that we were able to go on this horseback riding trip in the first place. So, briefly, a fellow member of the painting group I belong to had connections with a Navajo family with whom she had previously arranged several trips. I asked her if she could plan another and that's how we came to be able to go. There are many tour groups one can arrange with to go into the canyon. Some do day trips by jeep, others allow you to stay overnight. The one requirement is that you must enter the canyon with a certified Navajo guide, and you can only stay in the canyon on land that a family owns, or on land the owner has given permission to use for camping.
Both of these paintings were painted within a few steps of our campsite. Our campsite is not in the river bed, but up on a bit of land, maybe 6 feet or more in elevation above the sandy river bottom. We were there in the driest part of the year. At other times a lot of water would be flowing through these scenes, and our guides told us, that some times of the year, the water table rises so high into the river bottom that it's unnavigable. Our campground is fenced to keep our horses in and the wild horses out. Even to step out from the campground property to paint in the river bed, a matter of only 25-50 yards, required us to be accompanied by a guide. These rules are strictly enforced by the national park service who oversees the running of this national park even though it is the property of the Navajo.
So, here are my two sunset views out of our front door, so to speak